Boris Kamkov

Boris Davidovich Kamkov (Russian: Бори́с Дави́дович Камко́в; 1885–1938) was a Russian revolutionary, a leader of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries and a member of the Council of People's Commissars. He was killed during the Purges.

Boris Davidovich Kats, who became known under the name 'Kamkov', was born on June 3, 1885 (O.S.) in Kobylnia, a village in Moldavia. His father was a doctor. As a youth he became involved in radical politics and joined the Socialist-Revolutionary Party (PSR), becoming a member of its 'Combat Organisation' in 1904. He participated in the abortive Revolution of 1905, was arrested and banished to Turukhansk. In 1907, Kamkov escaped and went into exile abroad, living mostly in Germany, France and Sweden. He contributed to various SR publications and studied law at Heidelberg University, graduating in 1911.

During World War I, Kamkov took an Internationalist position. He belonged to the Parisian SR group 'Life' and supported the Zimmerwald Conference. Kamkov was also involved in organising aid to Russian prisoners of war, using the opportunity to distribute revolutionary literature. After the February Revolution of 1917 he returned to Russia via Germany and was elected to the Petrograd Soviet in April. He became a leader of the staunch anti-war faction of the PSR, along with the famous Maria Spiridonova, Isaac Steinberg, the veteran Mark Natanson and others. This put him in opposition to the Revolutionary Defencist SR and Menshevik leaders who dominated the soviets during Kerensky's government. He famously squared off against the right SR leader Avram Gots; Gots and Kamkov had both been commissioned to report on the War and gave sharply divergent reports, with Kamkov denouncing Gots as a 'social patriot' and calling for an end to the war.

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